Denver and the West

Arvada, Westminster boost budgets for proposed light-rail stations

Two cities that will be home to FasTracks stations will invest hundreds of thousands of dollars to change the budget-conscious design of the commuter- rail stops.

Westminster will pay nearly $500,000 to redesign the future RTD Westminster Station to feature an arched opening, rather than a simple box structure.

Arvada is drafting four proposals to add art and historic markers, to align a road and to switch to brick pavers instead of flat concrete at the Olde Town station plaza.

The cost of the brick pavers is estimated at about $860,000, while the three other requests would total about $485,000. City Council will vote on the proposals in January.

Westminster's council voted unanimously — and without discussion — Monday to green- light the city's $453,375 arch request. A second change request is being drafted.

Westminster project managers describe the arch change as a valuable long-term investment that adds a spacious feel and a sense of safety for pedestrians who will walk through the tunnel under the light-rail tracks when the station opens in 2016.

"The city is in a unique position to be able to create those environments," said John Carpenter, community-development director. "We don't look at it as a station. We're creating a place that's exciting, where you will want to live in the area or to have a meal in the area."

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The requests — known as "betterments" — are made after the Regional Transportation District finalizes station design plans with local officials — a process that allows for local input but only for changes within budget.

For example, RTD agreed to change access at an Aurora station to include an elevator and one ramp up to the pedestrian bridge instead of two ramps.

"We are really supportive of their changes," RTD FasTracks spokesman Kevin Flynn said. "Probably every station has been changed in some way at some point in the process."

But RTD budgets don't often include room for costly aesthetic changes or for parking structures — another common change cities are asking for.

Studies show land around a transportation station can be prime real estate for development, but RTD's budget-minded plans most often include paving large chunks of that property for parking lots.

Parking structures free up land to make room for profit-generating development, but they fall outside of RTD's budget.

Arvada is negotiating a deal to allow a developer to build a parking structure at the Olde Town station, though plans are not yet finalized.

Westminster rejected the flat-parking-lot idea early on.

An agreement with RTD instead will give Westminster $10 million — what the district would have spent to design and build the station and parking lot itself — which gives the city liberty to develop the station around the track and platform.

The city has added almost $7 million more to the budget of its plan, which includes a parking structure.

"We appreciate RTD's support, but financially we have augmented that amount significantly to provide an aesthetic aspect," Carpenter said. "This is going to be a one-of-a-kind place in the RTD system."

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